People in 2030: Detect & Prevent
2030, Oslo
Olivia: 35y.o.; Location: visiting Oslo for a Conference; Occupation: MD; works for a startup; Loves: to organise everything; online bookings
Innovative Healthcare
It was the first time Olivia was visiting Oslo. She was invited to give a presentation at the Annual Oslo Symposium on Heart Research and to present the AI algorithm that her company is developing in the last 10 years. The AI algorithm was designed to predict if the patient is threatened by a heart issue just by looking at the patient’s eyes¹.
For Olivia to work for a startup company that helps people live happier, healthier lives on a lower-cost was a privilege. She was so happy to come and share all the results they reached.
When she graduated from the Medical School she had to decide on her specialization. For her, the heart was the most important part of the human body, and she chose cardiology very easily. With the years, she started to be interested in the technological innovations in the field with a focus on how AI can help in heart disease prevention.
For her, modern medicine was too reactive — most of the time physicians take action when the health problem appears, and many times it was too late. She believed that healthcare should focus more on early detection, so if the person is prone to a specific disease, it should be treated accordingly on an early stage.
Online vs. Offline
Nowadays, in 2030, most of the conferences were virtual, but this year the participants voted for a real meeting. Holding an online event was cheaper, and after the 3rd Big Pandemic of Covid-19, when almost the whole world was forced to stay home and to communicate mainly online via video streaming, most of the conferences like this one became just online.
With time, many people missed the old times and started to embrace the idea of live meetings again, where you could meet with colleagues, talk, laugh, and exchange ideas over a glass of wine and create new partnerships and vivid connections.
The municipality of Oslo also supported the idea and encouraged the visitors by providing vouchers for the Airlander — the new airship that was flying between London and Oslo.²
This airship offers a unique combination of low emissions, fuel burn, noise, and operating costs. Practically, it has zero-carbon emissions.
The flight was bearable. Olivia took one of the taxi cars that was waiting at the airport entrance. The car, of course, was electric.
The Zero-Emissions City
Since 2018 Oslo’s city center was closed for vehicles, and only pedestrians, bikers, and public transport were allowed. Electric or hybrid cars were encouraged. The ex-car parking spaces were turned into places for rest with benches and green spots, playgrounds, and bike lanes.
The taxi stopped at a bus station on the periphery of the city centre and Olivia paid with her watch. She was nearby her hotel and since she had light luggage, she decided to walk and see the city centre.
It was the rush hour in the city centre, and people were walking, biking, and waiting for trams and buses instead of sitting in traffic. The streets were full of people on bikes. Young and old, men and women. Mothers and fathers on cargo bikes were carrying one, two, or even four children with easy and comfort across the streets.
The air was clean and fresh. Most of the rooftops were covered with green plants, or with solar panels. The city reached its goal to be a zero-emissions city³, cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 95% compared to 20 years ago. It was one of the leading European capital cities that embraced that policy for the good of its citizens more than 10 years ago. A policy that is now applied in other parts of Europe as a good practice.
It also helped Oslo to win again the first place as the healthiest city in the world out of 89 global cities.
Digital Walls
Olivia found her hotel. When she entered the lobby, she was welcomed by her name. The voice was coming from a screen on the left. A sweet lady in a costume was greeting her from the screen and was telling her that she is now checked in, the number of her apartment is 42 and it is located on the 3d floor; the code for her apartment is already on her smartwatch and the elevator is in the right.⁴
When she entered the room, she was welcomed by the voice assistant of the room.
“Welcome, Olivia. I’m your room voice assistant. Do you want me to connect with your smartwatch?”
“Sure, please connect.” — answered Olivia while testing the mattress. The room had very few furniture.
“Ok. I’m connected now.”
“Turn the glass window into a screen and project the agenda of the conference, please” asked Olivia, and the assistant showed the schedule for the day.
The conference was starting at 7 p.m. with an opening ceremony and a welcoming drink where everybody could meet and greet. It was almost 6 p.m., and Olivia decided to take a shower and refresh before she joins her colleagues. With the touch of her fingers, the shower detected the best temperature for her body. The new dress was waiting for her in the wardrobe, just as she ordered it in advance. Once she was almost ready, she heard a knocking on the door.
“Food delivery for Mrs. Johanson”.
Olivia opened the door and a young smiling boy with a helmet in one of his hands was standing in front of her. He passed her a nicely designed cardboard box. She already smells the delicious smell of the veggie burger.
“Thank you” — Olivia smiled and closed the door.
The interesting evening was about to start.
